Italian shipyard Heesen Yachts has announced the appointment of Arthur Brouwer as its new CEO.

Having already served as executive chairman since September 2014, Brouwer took up the post of CEO at the beginning of February. According to a statement from Heesen Yachts, Brouwer’s mandate is to take the brand, “a leader in custom-built superyachts and internationally renowned for creating exceptional performances in speed, range and stability, to the next stage of its development.”

Brouwer brings to the role an established track record of 19 years across both senior leadership roles, and a number of CEO positions in listed large family firms and private equity firms. According to Heesen, Brouwer also has much in-depth experience in retail, automotive wholesale and production.

Speaking about his appointment as CEO, Brouwer said, “It is a great privilege to head Heesen, an internationally respected company which has been setting standards of excellence and design engineering innovation for the past 38 years.

“My past experiences have enabled me to acquire great knowledge of the operational excellence, sales and marketing and strategy, and my concrete aim moving forward is to capitalise and build on what has previously been achieved by taking Heesen to the next chapter of its history,”